Wanting to keep the faith

The notion that fans want the club to fail because they don’t like the manager or certain players is ridiculous.

Nobody braving the cold & rainy conditions yesterday wanted the team to lose. Despite recent results and performances, fans still go to games with that little bit of hope that they could see a positive result.

After the first twenty-five minutes, it looked as if we would see Wanderers get something from the game. They were getting shots on goal & were perfectly matched with Wycombe.

Sadly, as Keith Hill mentioned in his pre-match presser, Bolton conceded just before half time & the game was lost there and then.

All too often, Bolton’s good work has been undone by a lapse in concentration & they’ve been punished at a crucial time during a game. It happened at the death against Coventry & right before half time against Doncaster and Wycombe.

It’s turned out to be one of the factors that, barring devine intervention, has resulted in Bolton Wanderers being a League Two team next season for the first time since the ‘80s.

There will be a number of fans next season who won’t renew their season tickets. Maybe it’s a luxury they can no longer justify, maybe they’ve just fallen out of love with football. Maybe they don’t have faith in Keith Hill & his ability to manage the team.

It doesn’t mean they want the team to fail. All fans want is to have pride in the team they support. To see a determined performance, a side that give everything in pursuit of victory.

Wanderers’ journey back up the leagues isn’t going to be a quick fix. Nobody is under any illusions that we’ll be a good side overnight. It’s going to take time and patience.

From now until the end of the season, performances and results are to show fans that this is the right team to be in charge of the rebuild. To persuade fans to keep the faith in what they’re aiming to achieve in the future.

Supporting Bolton Wanderers has been extremely difficult for a long time. You might lose faith sometimes, though love for your club is unconditional.